Of course! Imagine the opposite scenario where they’re not exposed at all to other religions. Sooner of later, they will find out about them and might even convert. Keeping them in a small Catholic box isn’t going to do them any favors. We studied world religions and it was really interesting!

Personally, I feel it would be wrong unless it were in a historical point of view. The Catholic faith is the One True Faith. All the other ones are false faiths. Learning about false faiths is no different than learning about satanism.

Personally, I feel it would be wrong unless it were in a historical point of view. The Catholic faith is the One True Faith. All the other ones are false faiths. Learning about false faiths is no different than learning about satanism.

Mel…even the Popes have said that other faiths contain truths that God has given. You are really pushing the line here into xenophobia.

It would be pretty hypocritical of us not to support learning about other faiths. I constantly see people griping about others who criticize Catholicism without understanding it. How can we make thoughtful criticisms if we don’t understand what we are criticizing?

Only as a point of reference and common ground in a conversion process to help understand the points made by candidates. General interest only. At school I would refuse comparisons and debates, this is baiting. Once the truth is found the search ends.

Absolutely, I love it. You can discuss other faiths reasonably intelligently for the rest of your life. It helps you understand and communicate with others who have different faiths. I was surprised at basic parallels, good, evil. You see elements of this - virtue, ethics, wisdom, etc. in Hinduism, Buddhism. Hinduism really intrigued me - there is a lot of wisdom there. I believe that Christianity is truth at its fullest revelation and I can say that after having studied world religions.

As a grade 11 student. The Catholic School I go to requires taking grade 11 world religions. so I’m curious, do you think learning about other religions is a good thing?

When I took World Religions in college, I was not well formed in my Catholic faith, so the may have done more bad than good for me.

However, also seeing where each religion was similar made me the general believe in God stronger. World Religions really comes down to how it’s taught.

If it’s taught as a class to discredit Christianity, then it could do a lot bad. But since this is at a Catholic School, I would imagine it would be taught as a comparative course. If I was teaching such a course in a Catholic setting, I would always be comparing the religion to the Catholic Church to illustrate the Fullness of Truth we have.

Ancient Egypt was a dominant culture in the region which had extensive influence on the lives of the Jews from the time of Moses on, political, social, and cultural influence. Egypt had a very high level of cultural development - math, art, sciences. It is a fascinating culture. It is a controversial, but you can argue that elements that appear in Judaism compare with ancient Egyptian religious concepts, ideas. I read the Book of the Dead and remember thinking it had themes that you read in the Old Testament. Morality. I saw parallels. Sorry I can’t be more specific.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead is a collection of spells which enable the soul of the deceased to navigate the afterlife. The famous title was given the work by western scholars; the actual title would translate...

Various religions of the world can teach people things. Take certain religions’ views on animals; it makes sense to take good care of your animals whether or not you believe that if you don’t, you just might come back as one of them.

I compare it to the Sci-Fi series Warhammer 40,000 and the Imperium’s view of technology… you apply “sacred” oils and lubricants to the device while chanting various things along with striking it in various areas to activate it. If you do maintenance on your car and want it to work, you change/apply various substances to various locations, you may run through a checklist of stuff you need to do, and you may need to strike parts to loosen them.

In practice, it depends on who and what you are, therefore how much time and effort you should give (to learn about other religions).

If you’re are just ordinary Joe Catholic, probably the priority is to learn more about Catholicism or being catechized. As for other religions, perhaps the word is to be informed. But no problem, if you got the time and the interest, why not?

I applaud your school for offering comparative religion classes! Eleventh grade sounds like an excellent level to approach the subject. Just about any liberal arts study is enhanced by studying world religions… Understanding history, culture and the arts!